Parkland 911 Calls Are Released: ‘Someone’s Shooting Up the School’

Students and parents embraced after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14.Credit
Saul Martinez for The New York Times

PARKLAND, Fla. — In the first chaotic moments after a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., 81 people called 911 desperate for help, including at least one boy who telephoned from inside the school and whispered urgently to an emergency dispatcher.

“Someone’s shooting up the school at Douglas,” he said, according to an audio recording of the call released on Thursday by the sheriff’s office in Broward County.

The office released recordings of 10 calls that sometimes depict panicked parents furiously texting their children at the school and relaying information to law enforcement. One father put his daughter on speaker phone and repeated what she said to the 911 operator.

The recordings, a fraction of the evidence that the authorities have been poring through since the Feb. 14 rampage, showed the uncertainty, fear and conflicting information in the minutes after officials believe the gunman opened fire. The suspect, Nikolas Cruz, 19, a former Stoneman Douglas High student, is accused of killing 17 students and school employees in about six minutes.

Separately on Thursday, Mr. Cruz, who was indicted this week, withdrew his not guilty plea. In a one-page filing in Circuit Court in Broward County, Mr. Cruz’s lawyers said he would stand mute.

Under Florida’s court procedures, the decision has the effect of a not guilty plea, but it may help insulate Mr. Cruz and his defense lawyers from perceptions that they are contesting his culpability in crimes to which he has confessed. In an effort to stave off a trial that could lead to his execution, Mr. Cruz has offered to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Along with the recordings, the sheriff’s office also released its most detailed timeline yet of the police response to the shooting, based on radio dispatches and surveillance footage. The timeline showed 11 minutes passed before officers first entered the freshman building.

The only armed deputy on campus, Scot Peterson, made his way to the building less than two minutes into the six-minute shooting, and said over police radio that the rampage was taking place “inside,” according to the timeline.

Mr. Peterson nevertheless remained outside, and he told other officers arriving on campus to do to the same. “Do not approach the 12 or 1300 building,” Mr. Peterson said. “Stay at least 500 feet away.”

Mr. Peterson resigned eight days after the shooting once the sheriff, Scott Israel, placed him under internal investigation for failing to try to confront Mr. Cruz as quickly as possible, as outlined in office policy. Mr. Peterson’s lawyer defended his client a few days after his resignation, saying Mr. Peterson thought the gunman was outside the building — something that appears at odds with Thursday’s timeline.

The 911 calls came into the sheriff’s office through a regional county system. The first police officers to respond to the shooting came from the city of Coral Springs, which is near the school and operates its own, separate call system.

“Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is getting shot up,” he repeated.

The call dropped.

In the call with the father who put his daughter on speaker phone, his wife could be overheard talking with their daughter, who was in Room 1214 of the freshman building.

“I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,” the mother repeated. “If he shoots, play dead.”

The parents of another girl, who was in Room 1213, texted their daughter back and forth to give the dispatcher information, according to another recording. At one point, the girl’s mother began watching television coverage of the attack while on the phone with the dispatcher.

“They’ve got the guns drawn,” the woman said. “Wow.”

Eventually, after minutes of confusion and uncertainty, the police arrived to Room 1213. Three people had been shot.

“Oh my God,” the girl’s mother said. “Oh my God.”

Patricia Mazzei reported from Parkland, Fla., and Alan Blinder from New York.

A version of this article appears in print on March 9, 2018, on Page A17 of the New York edition with the headline: ‘Tell Her To Be Quiet, Don’t Make Any Noise’. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe